# Date: 1919-04-29

TELEGRAM 
TO THE REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE EASTERN FRONT
[April 19, 1919]
(Lit. military secret)
4 addresses Samara Revolutionary Military Council 
Copy Samara to Deputy People's Commissar of Food Briukhanov 
Copy to Commander-in-Chief Frunze¹ 
Copy to Znamensky, Samara, Voznesenskaya 134

I consider the immediate departure from Samara of Irtur² absolutely 
necessary. In view of the enormous technical value of this organization and 
the possibility of its utilization for other urgent state work, I request that 
extraordinary measures be taken for the immediate relocation of Irtur's 
property, employees together with their families and personal belongings to 
Penza, where further instructions will be issued. Provide assistance to Irtur 
employees with monetary funds, which will be reimbursed by Irtur, and 
provide railroad cars and other transport means. You will be held responsible 
for failure to take actual measures for the relocation. If evacuation by rail 
is impossible, take urgent measures immediately for evacuation of Irtur's 
property by water to Saratov.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin *

Printed from typescript

1 N. P. Briukhanov — party member from 1902. After the Great October 
Socialist Revolution — Deputy People's Commissar of Food; from December 
1921 — People's Commissar of Food.
M. V. Frunze — party member from 1904. After the Great October Socialist 
Revolution held responsible party work; at that time — commander of the 
Southern group of the Eastern Front; subsequently — commander of the 
Turkestan and Southern (against Wrangel) Fronts; after the end of the Civil 
War — commander of troops of Ukraine and Crimea, plenipotentiary of the 
Revolutionary Military Council of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1925 — Chairman 
of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and People's Commissar 
for Naval Affairs. From 1921 — member of the Central Committee of the 
RCP(b), from 1924 — candidate member of the Politburo of the Central 
Committee of the RCP(b).
2 Irtur — administration of irrigation works in Turkestan; in October 1918 
a group of specialists was dispatched by the Council of People's Commissars 
to Turkestan for the purpose of preparing a cotton base for the textile industry.
On this question see also V. I. Lenin. Complete Collected Works, vol. 50, 
p. 455.
* The telegram was signed also by the People's Commissar of 
Transportation L. B. Krasin.

NOTE OF S. P. SEMYON 
ON A TELEGRAM FROM KOTEL'NICH

To Semyon in the Council of People's Commissars. 
What is the matter?¹ 
29/IV. [1919]

Is it correct that district land committees are not permitting redistribution 
of land and meadows, which were divided unfairly in '18? Now families of 
Red Army soldiers do not receive equal shares with their fellow villagers. 
Pestov, Igumnovsky volost, village of Spodyakhino

Published incompletely in 1976 
in the book "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. 
Biographical Chronicle", vol. 7, 
p. 127

1 The document bears a notation by S. P. Semyon: "To Berzin. Urgent" and 
Berzin's report on this question: "Families of Red Army soldiers must 
absolutely be satisfied equally with other agriculturalists. With respect to 
temporary redistributions, one must be guided by the directives of the 
People's Commissariat of Agriculture on this matter. Provide exhaustive 
explanations to the petitioners. 30/IV".
S. P. Semyon — member of the RSDLP from 1903. After the Great October 
Socialist Revolution — People's Commissar of Agriculture.

NOTE FOR S. P. SEMYON¹

To Semyon for his opinion: what is the matter here? 
is everything correct? and what measures have you taken? 
2/V [1919] 
Lenin

1 The note was written on a copy of a telegram from Kursk to the People's 
Commissariat of Agriculture, copy to Lenin, dated April 30, 1919, from the 
chairman of the First provincial congress on land organization that was taking 
place at that time. In the telegram, based on statements of delegates from 
local areas, it was reported that the population was interpreting one-sidedly 
and incorrectly the provisions on socialist land organization regarding the 
distribution of land for individual use, and a special clarification on this 
question, published in No. 77 of "Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive 
Committee" on April 10, 1919, signed by the Chairman of the Council of 
People's Commissars V. I. Lenin and People's Commissar of Agriculture S. P. 
Semyon, [stating] that such an interpretation paralyzes the possibility of 
correct implementation of the plan for land organization of Soviet economies 
and the establishment of collective associations; the congress requested that 
an additional clarification be given by telegraph on an urgent basis.